Automobile supporting means



W. S. HELMER AUTOMOBILE SUPPORTING MEANS July 11, 1939.

Filed Sept. 7, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l y 1939. w. s. HELMER AUTOMOBILE SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Sept. 7, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Briefly, the arrangement comprises four cables, for securing the automobile upon the deck, 3 a

-" the floor -of the car. The deck 5, tie-downs l, suspension'arm 8,

mid of the car. The tilted decked automobiles myself, Serial No. 162,802, filed November 5, 1937.

two automobiles therein, one tilted and the other runs upwardly over pulley is parallel to the 1m fourth automobile.

' does notendanger the life of the operator while her n s d n d by 3 Thi cable run 4 Psmisu i m sso 2 1 5 37 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE 2,165,376 I AUTOMOBILE SUPPORTING MEANS Walter s; Helmer, Oak Park, n1. Application September 7, 1937, Serial no. 162,803

s o. (Cl.105-368) My invention relates to means for supporting car showing therein two automobiles in semiautomobiles for transportation in freight cars and. decked position, and particularly to novel means for raising a deck Figure 2 is a diagrammatic showing of the within the car which deck supports an automocable and drum arrangement. bile. Referring to the drawings, I represents the 5 One of the chief features of my invention is sides of a freight car, 2 the ends of the car, 3 an arrangement of cables secured to the deck the roof, 4 the floor, and A the underframe genand hoisting mechanism for raising a deck, which orally. 6 is an automobile supported in elevated mechanism is located under the floor of the car. position upon a deck 5, 1 represents tie-downs one connected to each corner of the deck, the suspension arm for supporting the deck in tilted cables running over pulleys located adjacent the position, 9 an automobile loaded under the tilted roof of the car and thence downward to drums automobile and it represents tie-downs for autoassociated with the hoisting mechanism under mobile 9.

Preferably in the use of invention four tie-downs l0 and indexing medium 49 do not in automobiles are supported in a car for transporthemselves form a part of this invention, these tation, two on the floor back to back and two particular features forming a part of a co-pendtilted or semi-decked in the car, one at each. ing application filed by Ernest W. Henry and have their rear ends adjacent the ends of the The cable arrangement for raising the deck is car and their front ends elevated adjacent the as follows: Attached to the front end of the roof. I do not claim as novel this agement side frame members of the deck at H is a cable of four automobiles in afreight car, it having it which runs over a pulley it parallel to the been common practice to load four automobiles car side, thence over a pulley M at righ n l 25 as described fifteen or more-years ago in ship-- to the car side and thence over pulley l5 paralments from the eastern parts of the country to lel to the car end and thence downwardly to drum Paciflc Coast points and elsewhere. In the drawit. Attached to the front end of the other side ings I have only shown half of a freight car with frame member of the deck at l l is a cable which on the floor of the car. It being mere duplicacar side, thence over pulley 2i parallel to the tion to provide two other automobiles similarly car end and thence downwardly to drum 22. The I arranged in the car, it 'is unnecessaryas far as cable attachment forthe rear end of the deck is my invention is concerned to show the third and as follows: Attached at 23 -to the side frame I member is a cable 24 which runs over pulley 25 35 The object of my invention is .to provide a parallel to the roof, thence over pulley 21 posisimple, rugged and inexpensive mechanism for tioned parallel to the car end and thence downloading automobiles in freight cars which per,- wardly todrum 28. The fourth cable is attached mits free entrance through a door of the car, at 29 to the end of the opposite side frame memthe decks are being tilted or raised to the roof Over Pu11eyS 3| and both whichiare parallel of the car and prevents damageto automobiles to the l side and thence down o drum while being loaded K To operate the pulleys I have provided the fol- It will be understood that various changes and 9 a mechamsm: A g 33 l fi top modifications may be made in the mechanisms t g 3 5; 35 1S Journaled m a as m mm from ar mama are; r? its the spirit of my invention and that the same are to revolve with the staff 33 is a pini r an 3 t w hi h submitted simply illustrative purposes and meshes with a gear 39 which in turn has a shaft not in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention with worm gear meshing with gear This bemg fined 1 e following msparticular mechanism thus described forms no In the ac mpanyin d s in which li part of this invention but is included in the above numerals andletters of reference indicate simireferred to Henry-Helmer co-pending applicalar parts throughout theseveral views: 7 tion. A shaft 42 revolves with gear 4| and this Figure 1 is a side elevation of half a freight shaft has upon it two drums Hand 22. 43 and in the above referred to 44 is a positive clutch mechanism, 45 a spline shaft, 46 and 41 are bearings and 48 designates a clutch operating handle, all of which is suitably supported by underframe A.

By means of the above described hoisting and clutch mechanism and the cable arrangement previously described, it is possible through the operation of staff 33 to raise the deck horizontally or to tilt the deck horizontally of the car as shown by Figure 1. These operations are as follows: To raise operating lever 40 is shifted to engage positive clutch members 43 and 44. Under these conditions, when hoisting mechanism is operated by means of staff 33 and handle 35, shaft 42 revolves, turning drums I6, 22, 28 and 28', thus winding upon them cables l2, I8, 24 and 30, through positive clutch 43 and 44 and spline shaft 45.-

To tilt the front end of the deck clutch operating lever 48 is shifted to disengage clutch members 43 and 44. Under these conditions shaft 42 revolves, turning the drums l6 and 22 only, winding upon them cables l2 and I8, while drums 28 and 28' remain stationary. The rear end of the deck cannot be raised independently .of the front end.

Instead of the manual operation through medium of staff 33 and handle 35, a motor may be employed to revolve staff 33 without any change of the hoisting mechanism as disclosed Helmer-Henry co-pending application.

The operation of the device is as follows: Before any loading of automobiles is started the deck 5 rests near the roof. It is then lowered horizontally as a whole as previously described, until its rear end is high enough to be indexed through the medium of indexing bars 49, which indexing bars have holes ment. In other words, when the deck is lowered to this position its rear end is pivotally supported between the indexing bars 49. This indexing feature is also a part of the above referred to Helmet-Henry co-pending application and no detail of it here is thought necessary. The front end of the deck is then lowered and an automobile is backed upon it, this being possible due to the fact that the deck has two continuous runways, as disclosed inthe Helmer- Henry application. By means of the clutch and winding arrangement previously described, cables l2 and iii are wound upon drums l6 and 22, thus elevating the front end of the deck and the deck is held in this tilted position by bars 8. There'- on an automobile, designated by 9, is run under the deck, the front end of this automobile being adjacent the end of the car.

When the freight car is to be used for other purposes, the deck is elevated to the roof through the medium of cables l2, I8, 24 and 30 as previously described and held in that position by any suitable means.

From the above it will be seen that none of the hoisting mechanism is at the doorway of the car and hence free entrance of automobiles through the door is permitted. Also it will be noted-that the winding mechanism, whether operated manually or by motor, is beyond the decks and hence the operator is in no danger should the decks accidentally fall. Also there being no hoisting mechanism in the car adjacent the automobiles, there is no danger of damage being done to the automobiles while being loaded.

the deck horizontally clutch 50 for height adjust which said what I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In mechanism for elevating an automobile in a freight car, a rectangular shaped deck upon which an automobile is supported, a. flexible member attached to each corner of the deck, pulleys located adjacent the roof of the car over which said flexible members pass, two sets of winding drums flxed to the car body, one set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the rear corners of the deck and the other set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members at tached to the front comers of the deck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets of drums adapted to connect or disconnect the two sets of drums, a shaft for said drums and means to rotate said shaft whereby both sets of drums may be revolved simultaneously to wind thereon the flexible members to raise the deck or one set of drums may be independently revolved to wind thereon flexible members to raise the front end only of the deck.

2. In a mechanism for elevating an automobile in a freight car, a rectangular shaped deck upon which an automobile is supported, a flexible member attached to each corner of the deck, pulleys located adjacent the roof of the car over which said flexible members pass, two sets of winding drums flxed to the car body, one set of which is adapted to windthereon the two flexible members attached to the rear corners of the deck and the other set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the front corners of thedeck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets. of drums adapted to disconnect the two sets of drums, a shaft for said drums andmeans to rotate said shaft whereby one set only of the drums may be revolved to wind thereon 'the flexible members attached to the front end of the deck to raise that end only. A

3. In mechanism for elevating an automobile in a freight car, a rectangular shaped deck upon which an automobile is supported, a flexible member attached to each corner of the deck, pulleys located adjacent the roof of the car over which said flexible members pass, two sets of winding drums fixed to the car body, one set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the rear corners of the deck and the other set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the front corners of the deck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets of drums adapted to disconnect the two sets of drums, a shaft for said drums. means to pivotally connect the rear end of the deck to an end of the car and means to rotate said shaft whereby one set only of the drums may be revolved to wind thereon the flexible members attached to the front end of the deck to raise that end only.

4. In mechanism for elevating an automobile in a freight car, a rectangular shaped deck upon which an automobile is supported, a flexible member attached to each corner of the deck, pulleys located adjacent the roof of the car over flexible members pass, two sets of winding drums fixed to the car body, one set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the rear corners of the deck and the other set of which is adapted; to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the front corners of the deck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets of drums adapted'to connect or dlsconnectthe two sets of drums, a shaft forsaid drums, means to pivotally connect the'rear end of the deck to an end of the car, means to rotate said shaft whereby one set only of the'diums may be revolved to wind thereon the flexible members attached to the front end of the deck toraise that end only or both drums may be revolved simultaneously to wind thereon the flexible members to raise the deck as'an entirety and means to support said raised end adjacent'the roof of the car. 5. In mechanism forelevating an automobile in a freight which an automobile is supported, a flexible member attached to each corner of the deck,

which said flexible members pass, two sets of attached to the front corners of the deck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets of drums adapted tic-connect the two sets of drums, a"

shaft for said drumsand means within said car member attached to each car, a rectangular shaped deck upon adjacent the roof of the car over adapted to disconnect the 3 and extending through the car floor to rotate said shaft whereby both sets 6. In mechanism for elevating an automobile in a freight car, a rectangular shaped deck upon which an automobile is supported, a flexible corner of the deck,

pulleyslocated adjacent the roof of the car over which said flexible members pass, two sets of winding drums fixed to the car body, one set of which is adapted to wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the rear corners of the deck and the other set of which is adapted to'wind thereon the two flexible members attached to the front corners of the deck, clutch mechanism associated with the two sets of drums shaft for said drums and means within said car and extending through the car floorto rotate said shaft whereby one set only of the drums thereon the two flex-i 4 ibie members attached to the front end of the may be revolvedto-wind end 0 WALTER. s. m.

deck to raise that of drums may be revolved simultaneously to windthereon the flex- I ibie members to raise the deck.

two sets of drums, a 

